Student  Volunteer  Series ,  Aro.  4. 

Pj-nx  ^Dee  r 

M-se. 


Volunteer  3/lissioR 
Baad. 


The  mission  band  of 

THE  STUDENT  VOL¬ 
UNTEER  MOVEMENT  FOR 
FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 


ROBERT  E.  SPEER. 


October,  i8go. 


THE  VOLUNTEER  MISSION  BAND. 


The  necessity  of  association  in  the  King’s 
service  was  learned  long  ago.  Saul  had 
his  band  of  men  whose  hearts  God  had 
touched.  The  Lord  Jesus  did  His  Father’s 
work  by  means  of  the  little  company  of 
followers  given  to  Him  out  of  the  world. 
“  The  locusts  have  no  king,  yet  go  they 
forth  all  of  them  by  bands.”  It  is  clear 
from  the  nature  of  the  task  given  us  as 
missionary  volunteers,  from  the  ends  to  be 
attained,  and  from  the  experience  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  in  the  four 
years  of  its  life,  that  it  pleases  our  Father 
to  see  His  chosen  messengers  banded  to 
accomplish  the  results  which  will  glorify 
him  in  the  dark  lands.  It  is  the  purpose 
of  this  pamphlet  to  suggest  some  ways  in 
which  volunteers  in  each  school  and  college 
and  seminary  may  help  the  missionary 
cause  during  their  days  of  preparation. 

It  is  a  striking  but  natural  fact  that  in 
the  colleges  where  this  Movement  has  been 
presented  and  where  recruits  have  been 
enlisted,  if  no  Band  has  been  formed,  the 
missionary  spirit  has  waned,  and  the  re¬ 
cruits  have  become  cold  and  alienated. 


4 


The  Volunteer  Mission  Band  is  com¬ 
posed  naturally  of  those  students  in  any 
institution  who  have  signed  the  pledge  of 
the  Volunteer  Movement.  Anv  other  stu- 

j 

dents  wishing  to  attend  the  meetings  are, 
of  course,  welcomed.  The  model  Band  is 
a  quiet,  unpretentious  organization  of  the 
volunteers  for  the  purpose  of  arousing  and 
maintaining  a  personal  missionary  spirit, 
and  leading  others  to  pray  and  give  and 
go.  For  this  purpose  no  cumbrous  organ¬ 
ization  is  necessary,  a  leader,  a  chairman, 
or  a  small  committee,  being  quite  sufficient. 
The  Band  will,  of  course,  be  kept  closely 
allied  with  and  under  the  control  of  the 
Christian  organization  in  which  the  re¬ 
ligious  life  of  the  students  is  expressed. 
The  missionary  committees  of  the  Young 
Men’s  and  the  Young  Women’s  Christian 
Associations,  the  usual  form  of  organiza¬ 
tion,  should  be  composed,  if  possible,  of 
volunteers,  and  should  have  as  one  of  their 
duties  the  maintenance  of  the  Band.  It  is 
well  for  the  leader  of  the  Band  to  be  chair¬ 
man  of  one  of  these  committees,  (i)  This 
alliance  of  the  Band  with  the  Association 
secures  permanency.  If  the  Band  is  inde¬ 
pendent,  the  Association  will  naturally  turn 


1 


5 

over  to  it  the  responsibility  for  the  mission¬ 
ary  work  of  the  college.  It  is  fair  to  infer 
from  experience  in  many  cases  where  Bands 
have  been  formed  that,  unless  further  in¬ 
spiration  from  without  is  brought  in,  when 
the  original  members  are  graduated  the 
Band  dies,  with  the  result  that  the  mission¬ 
ary  work  that  has  been  handed  over  to  it 
is  abandoned  because  the  Association  has 
become  accustomed  to  neglect  it.  If  the 
Band  is  allied  to  the  Association  the  mis¬ 
sionary  work  is  of  necessity  permanent, 
because  joined  to  the  other  branches  of 
Christian  work  which  last  as  long  as  there 
is  any  active  Christian  life.  (2)  This  alli¬ 
ance  prevents  misunderstanding  and  jeal¬ 
ousy,  and  places  the  missionary  work  where 
it  belongs  —  side  by  side  with  the  work 
next  us.  (3)  In  this  way  the  Band  will 
reach  and  interest  a  larger  body  of  stu¬ 
dents.  Moreover,  only  so  will  the  Associ¬ 
ation  have  the  blessing  promised  those  who 
obey  the  King’s  command  and  run  to  do 
His  will. 

The  Band  should  have  meetings  weekly 
or  fortnightly.  These  meetings  should  not 
be  too  long,  nor  yet  too  short.  -  Ordinarily, 
a  meeting  an  hour  in  length  is  preferable. 


6 


A  half  hour  meeting  each  week  is  better 
than  an  hour  meeting  every  other  week. 
Where  the  students  have  specially  hard 
work  there  may  be  difficulty  in  finding 
time ;  but  for  the  Lord’s  sake  a  quiet  hour 
can  be  found,  it  makes  no  difference  if  it 
is  an  unusual  hour,  in  which  the  volunteers 
may  confer  together  and  sit  still  with 
Him. 

Three  things  need  special  attention  in 
these  meetings,  (a)  The  leaders  or  speak¬ 
ers  should  be  prepared  to  do  what  would 
please  Him  who  is  to  be  the  guest  at  each 
Band  gathering.  They  should  thoroughly 
study  and  pray  over  the  subject.  ( 'p )  The 
prayers  should  be  definite  and  believing. 
God’s  work  moves  so  fast  that  we  ought  to 
have  fresh  thanksgiving  and  petition  for 
Him  every  week.  Let  men,  fields,  and  ob¬ 
jects  be  prayed  for  by  name.  ( c )  The  sub¬ 
jects  for  such  meetings  are  endless.  Those 
about  to  be  suggested  might  profitably  be 
used  also  in  the  regular  monthly  mission¬ 
ary  meetings  of  the  Association,  which  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  missionary  committee  to 
arrange. 

i.  Fields.  Taking  China,  for  example, 
as  the  field,  one  speaker  would  tell  of 


7 


the  climate,  geography  of  the  land,  cus¬ 
toms  and  habits  of  the  people,  the  religious 
beliefs,  the  history  and  government,  —  of 
all  the  things  which  ought  to  be  of  interest 
to  every  one  who  loves  the  lost  millions  in 
Qhina.  A  second  speaker  would  describe 
the  Christian  work  done  there,  its  origin,  — 
when,  by  whom,  how,  what  motives  led  to 
it,  what  moving  of  God’s  pillar,  —  what 
methods  had  been  employed,  and  with 
what  success,  how  God  has  glorified  him¬ 
self  and  made  bare  the  strong  right  arm 
of  His  power  in  China.  Let  a  third  speak 
of  the  present  need,  the  crisis,  the  out¬ 
look,  the  coming  glory.  A  map  hung  up 
to  show  the  land  and  the  places  to  which 
reference  is  made  will  add  greatly  to  the 
interest  of  the  meeting.  Such  maps  can 
be  secured  from  certain  Boards,  —  Ameri¬ 
can  Board,  Methodist  Episcopal  Board,  etc., 
—  or  can  be  made  by  volunteers.  A  map 
of  the  world  can  be  obtained  from  Funk 
&  Wagnalls.  In  a  year,  taking  up  the 
fields  in  this  way,  any  Band  can  traverse 
the  globe,  and  every  volunteer  who  has 
made  the  journey  will  wish  the  other  vol¬ 
unteers  all  the  pleasure  he  received  from 
the  exploration. 


<i 


8 


2.  Biographies.  No  more  interesting 
subjects  can  be  found  than  lives  of  men 
like  Carey,  Martyn,  Livingstone,  Hanning- 
ton,  Moffat,  Duff,  Paton,  Williams,  Xavier, 
etc.  As  much  care  should  be  used  by  the 
writer  of  such  a  life  for  the  Band  as  would 
be  used  were  he  writing  for  the  best  peri¬ 
odical  in  the  land.  Facts  concerning  fields 
and  points  in  missionary  work  can  best  be 
understood  and  remembered  by  associating 
them  in  this  wTay  with  a  life'.  As  a  rule, 
reading  from  books  and  magazines  should 
not  be  tolerated  in  these  meetings.  We 
can  read  them  any  time.  This  meeting  is 
a  time  to  find  and  keep  immortal  impres¬ 
sions.  If  a  field  is  made  the  subject  of 
one  meeting,  some  life  spent  in  that  field 
might  wrell  be  made  the  theme  of  the  next 
meeting. 

3.  Methods  a7id  Kinds  of  Work  will  fur¬ 
nish  comprehensive  subjects.  At  least  six 
might  be  considered  :  evangelistic,  educa¬ 
tional,  medical,  woman’s,  Association,  op¬ 
portunities  for  unordained  workers  —  lay 
preachers,  professional  men,  tradesmen,  en¬ 
gineers,  etc.  All  these  should  be  studied  in 
their  principles  and  their  results,  their  aim 
and  real  spirit,  the  last  five  especially  in 


9 


their  bearing  upon  the  first.  Many  men 
who  do  not  intend  to  enter  the  ministry 
would  gladly  serve  God  in  some  of  these 
other  ways  in  the  large  untouched  places 
of  heathenism. 

4.  Boards  and  their  Needs.  The  history 
of  organized  missionary  wrork  is  a  fascinat¬ 
ing  study.  Moreover,  everywhere  there  is 
great  ignorance  concerning  the  character 
and  work  and  needs  of  the  missionary 
Boards.  Tht  Band  should  study  all  these 
things  and  publish  them  abroad. 

5.  Once  a  month  a  meeting  might  be 
devoted  to  a  review  of  the  missionary  peri¬ 
odicals  of  the  month.  To  each  of  the  ten 
most  prominent  missionary  magazines  one 
volunteer  might  be  assigned,  to  report  the 
general  spirit,  the  names  of  articles  which 
all  should  read,  and  any  items  of  interest. 
If  each  of  these  ten  should  contribute  five 
solid  missionary  facts, —  for  example,  “  One 
hundred  and  ten  times  the  letters  of  your 
Bible  fall  short  of  the  numbers  of  the 
Chinese  hosts,”  —  for  each  of  eight  months 

^of  the  college  year,  and  the  others  should 
note  them,  at  the  end  of  the  year  each 
volunteer  would  have  four  hundred  facts  at 
his  command. 


IO 


6.  In  some  of  the  Irish  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Associations  the  Missionary  Sen¬ 
ate  serves  well  to  deepen  interest.  Each 
member  is  chosen  as  senator  to  represent 
some  heathen  country,  and  must  be  ready 
at  any  time  to  report  on  the  condition  of 
his  constituents  and  the  work  among  them. 
The  interest  which  such  a  representative 
would  feel  in  his  people  would  be  deep  and 
growing  and  contagious. 

7.  Lastly,  general  subject?  can  be  used 
from  time  to  time  to  relieve  the  others  and 
to  gather  broader  views  ;  for  example, 
“  What  does  the  Bible  say  about  Mis¬ 
sions  ?  ”  “  The  Comparative  Need  and 
Success  of  Home  and  Foreign  Missions,” 
“The  Reflex  Influence  of  Missions,”  “The 
Crisis  in  Missions,”  “  Objections  to  being 
a  Missionary.”  In  one  college  a  helpful 
meeting  was  held  several  years  ago  when 
the  question  “What  is  a  ‘Call’?”  was  dis¬ 
cussed,  with  the  help  of  several  students 
who  thought  they  were  not  “  called.” 

If  volunteers  will  observe  due  cautions, 
and  will  pray  and  think  and  talk  to  wise 
people  about  these  things,  they  will  find 
that  no  meeting  can  be  made  so  interest¬ 
ing  as  a  meeting  for  the  study  of  missions. 


If  those  who  love  the  Lord  and  wish  to 
see  His  last  request  obeyed  do  not  strive 
while  in  college  to  awaken  missionary  in¬ 
terest,  who  will  ?  This  work  clearly  must 
be  done.  A  few  suggestions  may  lead 
some  one  in  each  college  where  this  pam¬ 
phlet  may  go  to  pray  over  this  work,  and 
to  undertake  it  in  His  name. 

i.  The  Band  should  provide  for  itself 
and  for  the  students  an  adequate  mission¬ 
ary  literature,  and  see  that  it  is  read. 
(a)  This  literature  should  consist :  (i)  Of 
books.  “  The  Evangelization  of  the  World” 
for  inspiration,  the  “ Crisis  of  Missions”  for 
a  definite  statement  of  the  present  mission¬ 
ary  situation,  “  The  London  Missionary 
Conference  Reports  ”  and  the  “  Mission¬ 
ary  Year  Book”  for  information,  should  be 
owned  and  read  by  each  volunteer.  They 
can  all  be  secured  for  less  than  four  dol¬ 
lars  from  F.  H.  Revell,  148  Madison  Street, 
Chicago,  Ill.  There  are  many  other  books 
which  ought  to  be  read,  but  these  at  least. 
A  missionary  alcove  in  the  college  lib¬ 
rary  should  be  secured  and  stocked.  The 
Band  might  buy  some  books  in  common, 
to  be  circulated  among  the  members  and 
any  others  who  might  be  helped  by  them. 


12 


(2)  Of  magazines.  Each  volunteer  should 
subscribe  for  the  “Missionary  Review  of 
the  World,”  Funk  &  Wagnalls,  18  &  20 
Astor  Place,  New  York  City.  The  price  is 
one  dollar  a  year  to  volunteers.  Subscrip¬ 
tions  at  this  rate  should  be  sent  to  J.  M. 
Sherwood,  D.  D.,  35  McDonough  Street, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  This  Review  is  unsur¬ 
passed.  “The  Missionary  Echo,”  twenty- 
five  cents  to  volunteers,  Willard  Tract 
Depository,  Toronto,  Canada,  is  much 
smaller,  but  an  excellent  monthly.  Besides 
these  the  various  church  magazines  could 
be  secured  by  the  Band  for  a  small  price, 
if  the  matter  were  properly  presented 
to  the  publishers  of  each.  (3)  Of  tracts. 
These  can  be  obtained  from  many  of  the 
Boards  and  from  Mr.  Walter  J.  Clark,  50 
East  70th  Street,  New  York  City.  The 
good  that  can  be  done  by  tracts  is  immeas¬ 
urable.  A  tract,  a  word,  a  silent  uplifted 
prayer, —  these  things  work  countless  revo¬ 
lutions  every  year.  It  may  be  yours  to 
use  them.  (p)  Some  members  of  each 
Band  should  lay  it  as  a  special  burden  on 
their  hearts  to  have  this  literature  read. 
Let  them  keep  some  of  it  in  their  rooms 
and  give  it  to  any  one  whom  the  Holy 


i3 


Spirit  indicates.  The  Band  might  well 
appoint  a  small  committee  to  look  after 
this  and  devise  plans  for  having  mission¬ 
ary  information  scattered.  Much  can  be 
accomplished  in  this  way  if  the  committee 
will  make  it  a  personal,  prayerful  work. 

2.  A  second  duty  is  to  teach  students  to 
give  systematically  and  definitely.  In  this 
endeavor  each  institution  of  any  size  and 
prominence  should  have  its  own  mission¬ 
ary  in  the  field, —  if  possible  a  graduate  of 
the  institution, —  supported  by  funds  con¬ 
tributed  by  the  college  or  seminary.  This 
plan  is  perfectly  satisfactory  in  denomina¬ 
tional  colleges,  where  the  representative  is 
sent  out  under  the  Board  of  that  denom¬ 
ination.  In  other  cases  circumstances  will 
govern  the  disposition  to  be  made  of  the 
contributions.  If  a  college  cannot  under¬ 
take  the  full  support  of  $.  missionary,  it 
may  combine  with  some  church  or  some 
other  college  or  some  seminary,  and  to¬ 
gether  they  can  raise  the  necessary  amount. 
These  funds  in  college  can  be  handled  by 
the  Association  treasurer  or  by  a  treasurer 
of  the  Band,  but  in  either  case  the  support 
of  the  missionary  should  be  the  work  of 
the  Association.  About  fifty  institutions 


have  taken  up  this  idea  with  great  personal 
blessing  to  those  who  came  thus  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord.  The  general  poverty  of 
students  is  spoken  of  as  a  great  barrier  in 
the  way  of  a  more  general  adoption  of  this 
plan  ;  but  liberality  best  abounds  in  deep 
poverty.  A  clearer  view  of  the  uplifted 
Cross,  and  a  more  distinct  hearing  of  the 
Savior’s  voice  as  He  declared  the  redemp¬ 
tive  work  finished  with  the  payment  of 
His  blood,  would  make  every  sacrifice 
seem  too  small,  and  would  lead  to  the 
support  of  representatives  in  the  foreign 
field  by  colleges  which  have  hitherto  deemed 
such  action  impossible.  •. 

3.  Each  volunteer  must  work  for  new 
volunteers.  “  Every  disciple  must  be  a 
discipler.”  fivery  missionary  must  be  a 
maker  of  missionaries.  Every  Christian 
student,  where  it,  is  possible,  ought  to  leave 
behind  him  in  college  when  he  is  gradu¬ 
ated,  in  a  class  below  him,  another  Christian 
student  to  take  his  place,  who,  humanly 
speaking,  would  not  have  been  a  Christian 
had  it  not  been  for  his  influence.  So,  also, 
every  volunteer  ought  to  leave  behind  him 
another  volunteer  won  by  the  Lord  through 
him.  Such  volunteers  need  not  be  “  man- 


J5 


persuaded  missionaries.”  The  Lord  calls 
His  missionaries  by  human  agents.  If 
this  work  is  not  done,  the  Band  will  soon 
die.  If  it  is  done,  each  volunteer  will  mul¬ 
tiply  his  life,  sometimes  many  fold.  It  is, 
perhaps,  possible  for  each  volunteer  to  do 
more  for  missions  before  he  goes,  in  send¬ 
ing  others  and  in  deepening  prayer,  than 
he  can  ever  do  afterwards.  Each  Band 
should  prayerfully,  aggressively,  incessantly 
strive  to  increase  its  numbers  until  the 
Lord  says  there  are  enough. 

4.  The  Band  should  see  that  the  world¬ 
wide  gospel  of  the  Christ  is  preached  in 
every  church,  Sabbath  School,  Young  Peo¬ 
ple’s  Society,  Young  Men’s  and  Young 
Women’s  Christian  Association,  school, 
and  college  within  its  reach.  Each  of 
these  should  be  led  to  support  either  its 
own  missionary  or  its  own  native  worker  in 
the  field.  The  missionary  story  should  be 
told  and  the  missionary  appeal  rung  out, 
calling  to  loyalty  to  the  King’s  command. 
This  may  be  done  (1)  by  little  companies 
of  two  or  three  sent  out  to  speak  either  of 
some  special  field  or  on  some  special 
phases  of  the  need  and  work,  or  (2)  by 
individuals  alone.  The  work  can  be  car- 


ned  on  all  through  the  college  year,  and 
by  some  of  the  volunteers  in  the  summer 
vacation  as  well.  In  almost  every  Band 
some  few  can  be  found  adapted  to  this 
work.  (See  pamphlet  No.  5,  Volunteer 
Series.)  If  they  will  go  out  trusting  the 
Lord  and  honoring  His  promises,  He  will 
see  that  they  will  not  lack  anything.  Let 
the  importance  of  combined  giving  be 
constantly  emphasized  by  these  workers, 
showing,  for  example,  how  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  persons  each  giving  ten 
cents  a  week  will  support  a  missionary. 
In  this  way  the  churches  will  be  quickened, 
and  the  influence  will  react  upon  the  Band. 
Of  course,  the  other  members  of  the  Band 
will  be  much  in  prayer  for  those  who  go 
out  to  call  God’s  people  to  this  full  obe¬ 
dience. 

5.  A  record  book  should  be  kept  by 
each  Band.  Each  volunteer’s  name  should 
be  written  at  the  top  of  a  page  and  the 
page  below  left  blank,  that  the  record  of 
his  life  may  be  put  there.  In  years  to 
come,  if  the  Lord  tarry,  this  book  may  be 
the  most  honorable  alumni  record  preserved 
in  each  college.  May  it  please  God  to  fill 
some  of  these  pages  with  such  records  of 


z 


17 

humility  and  meekness  as  will  best  exalt 
Him,  and  with  lives  of  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  may  say,  what  Jesus  said  of  John, 
“  He  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light.” 
May  each  volunteer  be  like  John  in  this 
also,  that  he  shall  make  ready  a  highway 
for  the  footsteps  of  the  coming  King. 

6.  By  preserving  such  a  record  each 
Band  will  be  able  to  keep  track  of  volun¬ 
teers  who  have  been  graduated  and  are 
still  in  this  country,  as  well  as  of  those 
who  have  gone  to  the  field.  It  is  wise  that 
the  Band  should  keep  in  touch  with  those 
who  are  separated  from  the  spirit  of  obedi- 

'  ence  to  the  last  commission  and  are  growing 
cold,  suggesting  to  them  that  no  revision 
can  transform  “go”  into  “stay.”  Or  if 
volunteers  after  graduation  are  providen¬ 
tially  prevented  from  going,  it  is  well  for 
the  Band  to  know  it,  so  as  to  avoid  misun¬ 
derstanding. 

7.  It  is  of  importance  that  all  facts  con¬ 
cerning  the  Movement  should  be  known  by 
the  Executive  Committee,  that  they  may 
pray  over  them  and  have  full  information 
regarding  the  Movement.  Each  Band 
should  therefore  keep  in  correspondence 
with  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Walter  J.  Clark,  50 


i8 

East  70th  Street,  New  York  City.  He 
should  be  furnished  with  all  information 
about  the  work  in  each  college.  If  any 
volunteers  depart  for  the  foreign  field,  or 
if  any  from  any  reason  decide  not  to  go, 
he  should  be  informed.  He  will  be  glad 
also  to  send  information  of  any  kind  to 
any  Band  or  volunteer.  Each  Band  should 
also  know  and  pray  for  the  Corresponding 
Member  for  the  State  in  which  the  Band  is 
located,  and  should  help  him  as  he  strives 
to  help  others. 

8.  Correspondence  with  graduate  volun¬ 
teers,  with  the  Executive  Committee,  and 
with  the  Corresponding  Member,  has 
been  already  suggested ;  but  there  is  in 
this  feature  of  the  Band  work  yet  larger 
promise  of  helpfulness.  (1)  Each  volunteer 
should  correspond  at  intervals  with  his 
preparatory  school  Association,  his  Sab¬ 
bath  School,  or  his  Young  People’s  Society. 
A  letter  from  him  to  them  would  be  re¬ 
garded  with  great  respect  and  listened  to 
with  unusual  interest.  (2)  The  general 
correspondence  of  the  Band  might  be 
committed  to  several  of  its  members. 
(a)  With  other  Bands.  In  many  a  small 
college  a  cheerful,  helpful,  out-from-the- 


*9 


shoulder  spirited  letter  would  do  wonders 
in  strengthening  the  work ;  and  many  a 
despondent  Band  in  a  large  institution  . 
would  be  helped  by  a  message  of  prayerful 
interest  from  a  few  hearts  in  some  smaller 
place  accustomed  to  cherish  close  associa¬ 
tions  with  Jesus.  The  Secretary  in  New 
York  will  furnish  addresses  of  Bands. 
(/;)  With  the  Boards  and  their  missionaries 
in  the  field.  The  Boards  will  cheerfully 
furnish  information  of  any  kind  within 
their  power.  One  feature  of  this  corre¬ 
spondence  should  be  the  offering  of  his 
service  to  his  Board  by  each  volunteer. 
He  might  do  this  several  years  before  his 
preparation  is  over,  in  order  that  he  might 
have  in  his  last  years  here  the  advantage 
of  the  longer  experience  and  riper  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  Board.  The  letters  from  mis¬ 
sionaries,  especially  from  the  college’s  own 
missionary,  if  it  have  one,  will  help  greatly 
to  make  plainer  and  clearer  and  more  plain¬ 
tive  the  great  appealing  voice  of  a  world 
dying  without  the  knowledge  of  His  name. 

9.  As  many  volunteers  as  possible  should 
go  to  some  one  of  the  summer  schools. 
There  is  no  other  equally  great  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  feeling  the  pulse  of  the  Christian 


20 


.  church,  and  for  coming  in  contact  with  the 
missionary  spirit  and  missionary  men,  nor 
any  other  so  open  for  influencing  the  col¬ 
lege  men  of  this  generation  to  catch  the 
holy  inspiration  of  a  purpose  to  preach  the 
Cross  and  Him  who  hung  upon  it  to  every 
soul  before  our  generation  is  gone.  North- 
field,  especially,  is  not  only  practically  the 
original  birth-place  of  the  Movement,  but 
it  is  the  place  where  every  summer  it  is 
born  again. 

i  o.  Those  students  whom  we  can  hardly 
hope  ever  to  see  upon  the  foreign  field 
must  nevertheless  be  interested.  Into 
their  hands  will  come  the  privilege  of  giv¬ 
ing  to  the  Lord  for  this  work.  They  should 
have  the  joy  of  liberal  and  cheerful  giving. 
It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  those 
men,  especially,  who  are  to  compose  the 
coming  ministry  of  this  land  should  be 
familiar  and  fully  in  sympathy  with  the 
purpose  of  evangelizing  the  whole  world. 
These  ends  can  be  attained :  (i)  By  public 
missionary  meetings,  as  the  regular  monthly 
Association  meeting  in  college,  the  mission¬ 
ary  meeting  in  the  theological  seminary, 
and  perhaps  an  annual  public  meeting  of 
the  Band  to  which  all  are  invited.  (2)  By 


private  meetings  in  rooms,  where  a  few  can 
talk  familiarly  about  these  things.  (3)  By 
inviting  students  personally  to.  specially 
interesting  meetings  of  the  Band.  (4)  By 
giving  them  attractive  missionary  literature. 

(5)  By  personal  conversation,  displacing 
probably  some  other  theme  easily  spared. 

(6)  By  private  and  united  prayer,  picking 
out  certain  men,  and,  unknown  to  them, 
laying  their  lives  down  at  the  feet  of  the 
Majesty  on  High.  Would  it  not  mightily 
delight  the  Master  if  in  such  work  by  every 
Band  a  fire  were  kindled  whose  light  should 
not  only  brighten  the  circle  just  about  it, 
but  also  pierce  the  thick  pall  of  darkness 
and  fling  its  radiance  round  the  world  ? 

While  these  suggestions  have  been  put 
with  special  reference  to  the  conditions 
prevailing  in  colleges,  because  college  stu¬ 
dents  compose  so  large  a  part  of  the  Vol¬ 
unteer  Movement,  most  of  them  apply 
equally  to  the  work  in  theological  semin¬ 
aries  and  other  institutions.  Following 
these  lines  of  work  each  volunteer  will 
become  a  more  intelligent  and  devoted 
servant.  He  will  understand  fully  the 
purpose  and  character  of  the  Movement  of 
which  he  is  a  part,  and  will  be  ready  to 


22 


correct  any  misrepresentations  and  misap¬ 
prehensions  often  so  prevalent  in  many 
places.  So  understanding  it,  he  will  strive 
to  keep  it  very  humble,  very  lowly,  very 
quiet  at  the  Lord’s  feet,  content  to  glory 
only  in  the  Cross  of  his  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Working  out  in  its  own  conditions  and  cir¬ 
cumstances  as  many  of  these  suggestions 
as  can  be  made  practical  with  it,  each  Band 
will  conceive  its  functions  as  being  largely 
those  of  an  enlarged  missionary  committee, 
being  indeed  in  a  true  sense  an  extension 
of  that  committee  and  a  help  to  it ;  and 
not  this  only,  but  more  also,  because  of  the 
associated  life  purpose  which  binds  and 
maintains  the  Band. 

Lastly,  each  Band  should  be  an  infant 
class,  and  all  these  infant  classes  should 
form  an  infant  school,  and  sit  down  before 
Him  who  is  the  Great  Teacher  of  prayer. 
Here  in  the  school  of  prayer  we  must  learn 
to  pray,  for  we  know  not  how  to  pray  as  we 
ought.  Let  each  Band  select  a  field,  ob¬ 
tain  from  the  workers  the  names  of  all  the 
converts  and  any  others,  divide  these  names 
among  the  members,  and  daily  lay  them 
all  before  our  Lord.  We  may  not  be  able 
properly  to  pronounce  the  names  of  these 


23 


poor  ones,  but  He  knows.  The  noon  hour 
was  long  ago  selected  as  the  volunteers’ 
hour  of  prayer.  Each  volunteer  who  gives 
that  hour,  or  a  part  of  it,  to  prayer,  will  be 
helped  by  the  assurance  that  from  many 
hearts  at  that  same  time  a  large  volume  of 
prayer  is  going  up  for  the  special  objects 
which  the  volunteers  desire  in  common. 
May  the  coming  year  see  the  Volunteer 
Bands  so  baptized  with  the  spirit  of  prayer 
and  supplication  that  from  the  secret  place 
of  his  communion  each  volunteer  may 
come  down  with  a  face  shining  as  the  face 
of  Moses  shone,  and  with  a  life  which 
shall  delight  to  do  the  will  of  God  even  to 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 


DATE  DUE 

//>*/;  * 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U.S  A. 

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The  American  Student  Uprising. 

By  John  R.  Mott. 

Shall  I  Go  ?  By  Miss  Grace  E.  Wilder. 

The  Volunteer  Pledge.  By  Robert  P.  Wilder. 

The  Volunteer  Band.  By  Robert  E.  Speer. 

Volunteer  Work  in  the  Churches. 

By  W  *» .  Smith. 


The  World’s  Need.  By 

John 

-man. 

An  Appeal  from  China. 

By. 

hiinness. 

An  Appeal  from  India. 

B\ 

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An  Appeal  to  Christian 

IV. 

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An  Appeal  from  Japan. 

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